The messenger returns
by Inuyashe
Summary: After uncountable years, he has returned. And he is ready to rule all. Can they hope to stop him? Or will they perish?
1. Reawakening

The land of Johto. A peaceful area of this world. Many cities and villages litter its landscape, full of people. Every year, hundreds of pokemon trainers travel here, searching for new pokemon, new rivals, new friends, or all of the above.

Uncountable pokemon roam its plains. They co-exist with humans, help them. Humans take care of them in return.

How little they know...

How little they know of the time when there were NO humans...

How little they know about that place, many miles beneath the region's surface...

How little they know about the chamber and... its prisoner...

How little they know about... _him_:

The chamber was silent, the large red orb in the middle was still. It had been for thousands of years. But today...

The chamber shook. A crack appeared on the orb. Another and another. The orb then detonated, leaving the chamber full of smoke.

Four thick legs with three long metallic fingers, pointing in three directions, stepped out of the crater left after detonation.

His red eyes looked around. He knew this place only too well. After all those years...

He emitted a terrible roar. It could be heard through miles of rock, on the surface. Pokemon and people alike looked around, confused... frightened.

"_Agirata atoi, etona meior!" _He spoke in a language as old as the rocks. In today's lesser speech, it would be:

"Let fear find your hearts, I have awoken!"

He stretched his black, devil-like wings. He flew up, straight through the solid rock of the planet.

-

How little they know about the messenger of doom...

******

"Raichu, use Thunder wave!"

The pokemon listened to its trainer and attacked the wild Arbok. The large snake was instantly paralysed.

"Good! Now, you're mine!"

She threw a pokeball at the snake. It hit and the capture process started. First beep. Second beep. Third beep. Captured.

"Yay" We did it!"

"Rai, rai!"

She picked up the pokeball with her new pokemon.

"We'll start training him tomorrow! Come on, let's go home."

"Rai!"

Just as she wanted to put Raichu into his pokeball, they heard a terrible roar. It came... from beneath?!

"What is that?!?!"

"Rai rai rai!!!"

The ground then shook. They felt the earth move under their feat. They moved just in time. The ground parted and a strange creature flew out of it.

Two black wings, four black legs. Each leg had a stripe of a different colour. Red, blue, green and brown. Its left arm had a purple line, the right one had a white line. In the middle of its black, human-like torso was a colour-changing crystal. Its head had nothing on it. Its two eyes were pure gold. Its body pulsated with energy.

The thing looked around. It then roared again, which gave the two a headache. It then flew off. If her compass was right, it was headed north-east.

"Come on, Rai! We have to tell everyone at home about what we saw!"

Raichu got into his pokeball. She then ran straight home... to Goldenrod city.

He knew exactly where he was going. He was following that source of energy. Not the largest, but large enough to get his attention. And it was the closest one and... unknown to him. Which means it had emerged while he was in his cell. And that intrigued him. Anything new intrigued him.

He flew above villages and towns. But no one noticed him. He was too fast. After ten minutes he reached a mountain. But this mountain looked unscalable. And there was a beautiful forest on its top. The source of energy was there. He approached.

"Blas, blastoise."

"Glad to hear that, my friend."

Mewtwo was happy to see his friends again. His cloned ones. Sure, he travelled the world, but he just HAD to see them.

They were doing fine. They helped the bug pokemon in the forrest, the two groups co-existed. To them, this was something akin to paradise.

He wanted to say something, but the cloned Blastoise suddenly looked up and pointed. Mewtwo turned around. A creature ,the likes of which he had never seen before, landed with a loud noise. It crushed the ground beneath its four legs.

Mewtwo looked at his friend, who nodded. The clone swiftly went for help.

The intruder looked up. He spoke:

"_Minaro, ekonja teiju..."_

"What kind of language is that?"

The thing's eyes showed annoyance. They suddenly flashed with dark pink. Mewtwo felt as if his mind had been... touched.

The creature's eyes were closed. When it opened them again, it spoke in human language:

"The speech you use is.... primitive."

"If you say so."

"What are you for a beast?"

"I should ask you the same thing."

"Heh. I am a being FAR superior to yourself. In days of old, my name was... Thanos."

"I am Mewtwo. What do you want?"

Did he hear... Mew...two? Upon closer inspection, the beast before him did have similar traits.

"Only to give you a warning. I have seen that our glory is far greater, when we created such structures."

"What structures?"

"What do you mean?"

"The only structures around us were made by humans, not pokemon."

"Humans? Pokemon? What are you...?"

Thanos' eyes flashed again. Mewtwo again touched his head.

"WHAT?!?! We, the glorious beasts, have been reduced to slaves?! And they call us pokemon?!?!?!"

"Well... yes. Where have you been?"

"Heheheh. Where have I been? HehehehHAHAHAHAHAHAH!! I have been burried under the planet's surface for uncountable years, waiting for the day when my prison cell would become weak enough! Now, I will rule all! Just like before. But this time, I will destroy these, humans and any pokemon who would dare stand against me. That is my warning. Join me, or perish!"

"You are mad!"

"Perhaps. But I am also powerful!"

"Blas!"

The clones came. Charizard, Venusaur, Blastoise and Rhydon. And Mewtwo.

"You are outnumbered."

"Numbers mean nothing."

"We will see about that."

Charizard flew up. Blastoise used Hydro pump, Venusaur entangled Thanos with vines. The water hit him full-force. The vines disappeared and a burst of flame appeared from above, showering him. Rhydon then picked up a large boulder and threw it at Thanos. He seemed to be crushed. Mewtwo finished it with a charged shadow ball, which exploded, along with the rock. When the smoke cleared, he stood there on his four legs. He seemed... amused.

"That shadow ball of yours packed quite a punch, I admit. But your overall effort was pitiful. Let me show you REAL power!"

Thanos vanished. He was suddenly behind Rhydon and delivered a mighty blow. Rhydon was sent flying for a few metres and then hit a few trees, which collapsed.

He flew up, Charizard after him. His whole body started glowing blue.

"_Egona matieris!"_

Any heat that had been in the area was gone, replaced by a soul-chilling cold. Thanos watched as the frightened Charizard's wings literally froze. It fell to the ground with a loud 'Crash'. The temperature returned to normal.

"Pathetic."

Eight pairs of vines caught him, hoped to restrain him. The Blastoise was already readying a hydro pump. Two blasts of water were approaching.

"Meaningless."

A flaming barrier suddenly materialized and burned the vines. The water turned into vapour before it even got close.

"My turn! _Hyperis oroboro!"_

Two orbs of energy appeared in his hand. They grew for a bit and then he released them. The two clones were engulfed in an explosion of destruction.

"Heheheh. Now for..."

He didn't have time to finish his sentence. Mewtwo delivered a strong blow to his chest, followed by a Psybeam. Thanos collided with the ground. Mewtwo watched from above as he rose back up.

"Excellent, heheheheh. Excellent. You are not half-bad."

Mewtwo suddenly heard him... from behind. Very close, he was.

"But I, am better. _Voidra gaianis!"_

Mewtwo felt immense pain as the black beam passed through his body. He fell to the ground half-unconscious.

Thanos descended. He landed next to his enemies.

"This was a warning. If you ever stand in my way again, I will not have mercy. Now excuse me. I must start my mission."

He looked south-west. There, in the distance, he saw the tip of a very high structure. The knowledge he gained from Mewtwo told him that was the radio tower in Goldenrod city. He spread his wings and was off, doom in his wake.


	2. Devil in Goldenrod

The girl blinked with her green eyes and her brown pigtails flew all over the place as she shook her head.

"Mom, I'm telling the truth! It looked like a demon!"

"Demons don't exist, dear. Now, eat up."

"I'm not saying it was a demon! I'm saying it looked like one! And don't treat me like a little girl! I'm sixteen, ya know."

"I know, dear. All the more reason for you to listen to... well, reason. You'll be an adult, soon!"

'Little' Amelia simply pouted and started eating her soup.

******

"So, this is Goldenrod? Those small creatures down there are humans? I am not impressed. Might as well have some fun, though." his arms were raised to the clear sky. In seconds, a mass of clouds was formed and brought shadow to the city below. People looked upwards, confused. But none of them could have expected the true cause of the dark, "much better. Let's take a closer look at them."

And with that, Thanos leapt from the top of the radio tower, not slowing down a bit. He crashed into the street below, shattering a parked car and the sidewalk next to it. Humans stared at him in terror.

"Oh, god!"

"What is that thing?!"

Two golden orbs watched the humanoids.

"Hmmm... you look even more ridiculous from up close. I bet you're frail, too." with lightning speed, his four metallic fingers grabbed a nearby pedestrian and held him close to the messenger's face, "slow."

"No, please, let me go!"

"No powers to defend yourselves with? You really are a pathetic breed!"

"Stop right there!"

His head moved to the left, where he saw several more of the humans, dressed in blue uniforms and wearing white helmets.

"What are you supposed to be?"

"We're the Goldenrod Police! Release the man, now!"

"Or else what?" the men and women took out small orbs from their pockets and opened them. Several small Growlithes appeared from within, "is that a threat?! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!! Pups against me? I am offended!" the gold of his eyes turned into pink. And so did the crystal in his chest. The humans and pokemon alike were suddenly sent flying into a nearby building by an unknown force, "that should teach you to mess with me! Now," he looked back at the man, "why are you still here, wasting my time?!" the hand connected with the sidewalk, with force enough to break steel, "time for some general mayhem." he turned to the building, where he had sent the group flying, "hyperis orboro!"

A light engulfed the entire city and the structure collapsed.

******

Their dinner was pretty uneventful after the small argument. But then, there came the light. Her small brother screamed:

"What is that?!"

"I don't know!" replied the father.

When the visibility returned to normal, Amelia spotted something in the air. The devil.

"T-that's the thing I saw!"

"Oh, my..."

And they stared on, horrified.

******

The first clone opened his purple eyes. He could still feel the touch of the beam. Like an infinite blackness, shadowing his thoughts and devouring his soul. Horrible.

But then he remembered, that he was not the only one hurt. Standing up, Mewtwo looked over to his cloned friends. All of them were already up, resting. He came closer.

"Everyone alright? No serious injuries?"

"Blas."

"Venusaur."

Charizard and Rhydon merely growled and nodded.

"Good to hear. Listen, I have to go after him. Who knows how much damage he could do."

The other pokemon nodded. It wasn't like they could stop him, anyway. The legendary, noticed the darkness above Goldenrod city. And was off within seconds, flying at incredible speeds.

******

The messenger watched, from the air, as many humans in green uniforms made a circle around him. There had to at least thirty of them.

"And what are you supposed to be?"

One of the soldiers, who had a golden stripes on his shoulders, shouted:

"You know the drill! Exploit the weakness and destroy!"

Oh, such fools, these humans. Five of the soldiers threw the same kind of small balls and five large, eagle-like pokemon appeared. His assimilated knowledge told him the humans called these Pidgeots. What a stupid name for such majestic beings.

"You want to fight me?! Well then, bring it!" the eagles hesitated for a second, but then rose to the sky. They surrounded Thanos in the air and flapped their mighty wings, creating powerful gusts of wind. But he remained in place, unfazed, "is that all you can do? Let me show you real power!" all three orbs, the two in his head and one in his chest, turned pink again. With a single motion of his hand, the bird pokemon rose higher, unwillingly. His palm then turned into a fist and the five crashed with each other. Another movement of his hand, and the lesser creatures impacted the ground like a comet. Their trainers rushed to their side, "if you are the human elite, I have nothing to fear. Come on, surely there must be some challenger worthy of being destroyed by me!"

"Sir, it seems to be a psychic type!"

"I saw what it did and I am most most certainly not a fool. Call for reinforcements, we'll try to exploit a secondary type, if it has one. Beta group, go, go, go!"

Another five soldiers stepped closer, but this time, they released five tall creatures, whose backs were black. They also seemed to have 'flaming collars'. Typhlosions. Again, stupid names.

"Come for your death!" flames shot from each of the creatures' maws, heading straight for the messenger, and engulfed him. There were signs of hope on the ground, but a barrier of pure water suddenly materialised. The barrier then changed into five powerful jets of water, which almost immediately knocked out the attackers.

"Psychic-water... okay, get me some..."

Thanos interrupted:

"I'll save you time, human. I have no weakness, for I have no 'type'."

"What are you talking about?!"

"Simple. Let me demonstrate." One of his eyes was coloured light blue, the other grey, while the orb in his chest was split in half. In seconds, towers of ice and rock rose from the ground, as the soldiers watched in awe. The colours changed to red and green. The ice tower melted, leaving a tower of flame in its place, while the rock one was now growing all kinds of plants on it. Any sign of the pillars then vanished, "I use anything at my disposal. And you are limited to one or two elements at a time. You are a pitiful breed. Which is why I shall destroy you."

"In your dreams!"

"Au contraire. In your nightmares. And this, is a nightmare. Give yourselves a suitable last stand, please!"

"Only teams, just kill it!"

"Good luck with that!"

Five Venusaurs, Ampharoses, Golems and Blastoises were released from their pokeballs, but the leader sent out a Tyranitar. He watched them all, genuinely amused.

"Get ready, everyone."

"Oh, let's see how you fare aginst the shadows!" his colours this time were pure black, almost the same as the rest of his body. And light suddenly seemed to stop existing around him. The void crept closer and soon engulfed everything around. And then, light existed again. All of the pokemon were either knocked out or severely hurt, the humans even more so. Except for the green, reptilian Tyranitar, who roared deifiantly, "oh, I forgot your kind already knew the dark. Let me remedy my mistake! Hyperis oroboro!"

As the two golden orbs appeared in his hands, the commander knew they had failed, Clutching his left arm, he stood next to the Tyranitar.

"We go down together, old friend."

"As you wish! HehehehHAHAHAHAHAHAH!"

The pair was ready for their inevitable demise, but noticed a purple shape behind the messenger. And a voice came soon after:

"Thanooooos!"

"Wha-?!" the creature crashed into him, interrupting the attack. Both then crashed into the ground, creating clouds of dust. From those clouds, Mewtwo was sent into a nearby building with crushing force, "well, well, well. Look who we have here. I warned you. And I am never merciful twice."

The purple legendary floated a few feet from the hole his impact had made.

"Give me your worst."

"With pleasure!"

The devil spread his wings and headed for Mewtwo. Somehow, the purple one knew this would hurt even more.

******

Amelia's emerald eyes watched the battle. The purple creature tried its best... but the devil was faster, stronger and ruthless. For every blow the... the hero landed, he received three. And those three were twice as powerful as his own. The devil was toying with him, she could tell.

"He needs help!"

Without thinking, she stood up, grabbed her bag and ran outside before anyone could stop her. She had always been headstrong, after all.

******

Mewtwo yet again crashed into the ground, but this time, he found getting up a slight problem. Thanos landed next to him and spoke:

"You truly are pathetic. And here I thought this would be interesting. I think I'll just put you out of your misery."

A dark orb appeared in his palm, but Mewtwo watched defiantly. A shout caught both off-guard:

"Leave him alone!"

The two pokemon looked, in surprise, at a human girl with two brown pigtails, green eyes. She was wearing a yellow top with short sleeves and green pants. The messenger seemed amused.

"And who are you," one of his fingers pointed at her and then back at him, "to order me?"

"Amelia Fleinhart, trainer. You're just a big bully!"

Thanos' face lowered, so that it was inches from hers.

"Are you not afraid, little girl?"

As if to illustrate his point, a car on the other side of the square blew up. She was silent for a few seconds, then answered:

"No."

"Heheheheh. I say, you have some guts for a weakling. Now, if you'll excu..." a psychic blast suddenly hit him in the back, "graaaaaghhhh! Why you purple piece of...!" he turned to Mewtwo, but the clone was still laying on the ground, "who dares?!"

More of the blasts came, making the messenger cover his eyes. Then, a ball of psychic energy rammed into him, sending Thanos through a nearby wall. The ball was, in fact, a shield. And in that shield, was a small, pink creature with feline features.

It looked at its clone and put on a happy look. Mewtwo smiled as well. But a roar came from the rubble and Thanos came soon after.

"YOU! Oh, I've been waiting a long time for this!"

Mew swiftly flew upwards, the devil right behind his pink tail. The two powerful entities then battled high above ground.

Amelia didn't waste a second moved towards the hurt one on the ground. He had many burn marks on his body, so she took out one of the healing potions from the Pokecentre.

"Saved by a human, again. I suppose I'm just lucky."

"Uhhh, yeah, right. This could sting a bit."

As the liquid made contact with his wounds, it indeed generated a small pain. But that pain soon left and was replaced by a cool sensation. The stuff really worked.

"Thank you."

"Don't mention it! You helped save that man."

"Indeed."

The commander was close to them, his Tyranitar probably resting.

"Mister!"

"You saved me and my friends. I am indebted to you. But... what are you?"

He grinned a bit.

"Mewtwo. That up there, is just Mew."

"Legendary...!"

A squeal could be heard from above. They looked in horror, to see Thanos, holding poor Mew with his metallic fingers.

"I'll crush every bone in your body!"

The devil obviously started squeezing, since the little thing squealed even more.

"Excuse me, I have to help a friend."

And Mewtwo blasted off. Thanos could only watch and roar in rage, as the purple legendary crashed into him, releasing the small one from his grasp. All three combatants now floated in the air.

"Grrrr... there can be thousands of you, I shall still be the victor!"

"I don't think so!" the clone turned to the original, "you take the left, I'll go right."

Mew nodded.

"Huh? What are you doing?" psychic barriers appeared around both and flew to the messenger's sides and rammed into him. Thanos' arms barely kept them at bay, "I've had enough of this!"

A wave of force shattered both barriers and send their users several yards back.

"Running so soon?"

"I have wasted enough of my time with you two, already. I have a world a conquer. Later, weaklings."

And with a flash of green light, he vanished. But they knew he would be back. All of them did.


	3. A way and aid

It was a dark night in the town of New Bark. Most of its small population was already long in the land of dreams. Save for one. That one man was a certain professor Elm, busy working on his research within his high-tech lab. He didn't like pulling all-nighters... but when something intrigued him, there was no stopping him.

And this new creature indeed intrigued him. It not only seemed to have power over every element, but also seemed to lack a type of its own. Every pokemon expert would have claimed such a thing impossible. And yet, a living piece of proof could now be seen on every TV station worldwide.

Of course, there was also the matter of the two legendaries who practically saved most of Goldenrod. There was something strange about this whole situation. And Elm just knew forces beyond human understanding were at play.

Suddenly, he could have sworn he had heard footsteps. A brief look revealed, that he was alone. He adjusted his glasses, scratched the skin under his short brown hair and sighed. He must have been tired. It was almost four in the morning, after all. But soon, his hope was shattered, as a voice echoed throughout the room:

"Professor Elm, I presume?"

His head turned in every direction yet again, his eyes filled with terror.

"Who... who's there?"

"Oh, you probably know already. But I do have manners," then, out of thin air, a monster appeared. The very same monster, which had attacked Goldenrod. "Thanos. Pleased to meet you."

Its two red eyes were fixed on him, as if analysing Elm's every move.

"You! The pokemon..."

The professor suddenly felt an invisible force start crushing his neck. Thanos' eye had a pink hue now.

"Don't you dare call me that again. Now," the force disappeared and the professor gasped for air, "I have things to do, human. But before I do anything, I require your expertise."

"What do you mean?"

"You are an expert on all kinds of beasts, are you not? I merely need that information."

"Why should I give it to you?"

The laughter, which followed, froze his very soul.

"Hahahahahahahahahah! And what makes you think you have a choice in the mater?" a metallic hand smashed him against a wall and a great pain filled Elm's head, "oh, excellent. You really are an expert in your field. Information about beasts, which evolved since my time. And about those, which I already know. You have served your purpose, but I am in a good mood. You'll live."

The poor man was then thrown onto a nearby machine and Thanos flew straight up, crashing through the lab's roof. Many pokemon hid in their burrows at the sight of the devil soaring through the night sky. All he needed now, was to pick beasts worthy of his attention. Then... true chaos could start.

******

Far away from the devil, back at Goldenrod city, two unusual pokemon were resting at the local Pokecentre. Mewtwo would never had thought of so openly exposing himself a week before... but desperate times call for desperate measures. Also, the whole world had probably seen him on TV, anyway, so why bother?

The girl, that gave him some first aid during the battle, was also present, watching Mew float around the place, smiling. He had to ask:

"Why are you so cheery?"

She looked at him.

"Oh, sorry if it's bothering you. It's just that... your little friend is so cute!"

He gave her a confused look, but then resumed staring at a nearby wall, instead. Even he had to admit, that the treatment in the place was superb. The nurse with pink hair was nice, too. Her Chansey was a bit too friendly, though. 'Stare at someone for an hour with those huge eyes' friendly. It was getting a bit creepy. Mew suddenly stopped floating and landed on a nearby chair.

"Mew, mew mew?"

"Yes, I am feeling much better, thanks to the staff here and... what was your name again?"

"Amelia!"

"Right. You deserve my thanks, as well."

"Don't mention it!"

And the Chansey was still staring. The legendary's patience was drained, however, and he blurted out, scaring the pink pokemon:

"What?!"

"Ch-Chansey! Chansey..."

"I'm sorry, but please, don't stare."

The round one nodded and ran to the nurse, probably to help with something else. Their kind really did want to help anyone and anything. Mew then spoke:

"Mew mew mew."

"Hmmmm? What do you want to show me?"

The little one closed his eyes and the room was consumed by a blinding light.

*******

Failures. Every single chosen pokemon had been a failure. In information, their abilities seemed good, but in reality, they were pathetic. A Machoke was strong, but also as stupid as they come. A Charizard was too uncontrollable for its own good. None had power in every area. An Alakazam was either independent or too loyal to its original master. Nothing worked. Where was that true right hand? His second in command?

Suddenly, the devil felt something. A powerful wave of psychic energy, not that far from his position. Could it be?

******

When the light faded, Mewtwo saw a large, barren landscape, littered with rocks of all shapes and sizes, yet with no signs of life. The pink one was right in front of him, looking a bit confused.

"Where are we?"

"Yeah, where?" came a voice from behind.

The legendary turned and immediately noticed Amelia, just standing there and watching him with those green eyes.

"What are you doing here?!"

"What's so bad about it?"

"Mew..."

"An accident, indeed. Haaah. I'll just ask again. Where are we?"

"Mew, mew mew."

"What did he say?"

This annoyed the purple one.

"It seems I shall have to serve as a translator. Glorious. He said we are in a vision of sorts. We are now viewing the past."

"How far back did we go?"

"Meeew, mew."

"Sixty thousand years."

"Woooow!"

"Mewmew, mew mewmewmew."

"The planet itself was mostly a pokemon paradise, except for this area. This plain had always been the home of a certain menace."

A tower of flame suddenly rose in the distance, completely consuming one of the rocks. And onto the melted ore, stepped a metallic talon. It was him, the messenger, the devil.

"That's him!" screamed the girl.

"Meeeew. Mewmew, mew mew mewmew."

"Indeed. Thanos had been incredibly powerful even back then. And yet, none of the, as you humans call them, legendary pokemon knew where he had come from. He had always been a constant threat, frequently raiding the legendaries' domains. And they also knew he was utterly ruthless."

"Mew mew."

"But one day, his reign of terror came to an end, when the defenders united and became attackers."

"Mewmew."

"Wait... you were part of the battle?! You're ancient!"

The tiny legendary nodded cheerily and then continued:

"Meeeew, mew mewmew."

"Before the battle, they besought help from the highest powers. And those promised to aid them, should it be necessary."

Suddenly, Thanos looked towards the sky, seemingly amused. From all sides, mighty creatures of myth came, from the three birds of elements, to the masters of time and space. The little pink one was among them, as well. They encircled the dark one, all ready to fight. Thanos first roared, then screamed in his ancient dialect:

"Tarenuwa elenjon!"

"Mewmew."

"That meant 'Come meet your demise'."

A battle indeed started within moments. Even though they had the numerical superiority, the messenger fought like an entire army all by himself. Shifted from element to element within seconds, not granting the attackers any time to hide from attacks their forms were weak against. But their numbers soon proved to be a deciding point in the battle, since they could attack more frequently and from several angles at once. But no matter what the tried, no matter how many blows struck Thanos, the four-legged menace rose from the barren ground again and again. He could not be destroyed.

"Mewmewmew, mew mewmew."

"At this point, the greater forces came into play, seeing the endless battle below. And they turned a close defeat into a clear victory."

A ray of bright light came from the sky and all of the combatants looked upwards. From the white glow, came a majestic being. Its form was like that of a horse, mostly white, with only the front of its neck and its underside grey. The ends of its feet ended in golden spikes, with a large wheel of the same colour attached to the middle of its body. Its mane was spike-like, its eyes green with red pupils.

"Mew. Mewmew."

"Arceus. The original one."

Thanos almost immediately growled at the pokemon god and flew upwards, ready to fight. But before the devil could do anything, Arceus shot a red beam at him. He did not dodge in time and a field of red energy soon enveloped him, turning into a red orb in seconds, which fell to the ground. Sounds of bashing filled the surroundings, as the prisoner tried in vain to escape.

The ground itself then parted beneath it and the menace fell into the bowels of the planet, the shaft closed soon after that. The god vanished and the vision came to an end.

They found themselves back in the Pokecentre, the other people inside seemingly oblivious to their little trip. Amelia kept looking from Mew to the clone.

"That was... awesome!"

"I suppose that is a fitting definition. So, this is be our course of action, then?"

"Mew mew!" the pink one screamed while nodding.

"What are you talking about?"

Mewtwo looked at her with determination in his eyes.

"We need to gather the other legendary pokemon... and call a god."

******

The grassy fields were silent, with most of their inhabitants either asleep or hunting using stealth. But one area was quite noisy, thanks to a certain trainer.

"Oh, come on, Gardevoir! Use psybeam on the rock!"

The slender, humanoid pokemon merely turned away from her 'master'. She hated it all. Serving, being forced to obey. Just because she had been a lucky catch of some inexperienced child. The nerve! She had heard others of her kind were different, actually helping humans with joy! Was she the only normal one?

"Garde!"

"Oh, why won't you listen to me, you worthless pokemon?! Haaaah... I'll have to trade you for something better. Like an Arbok! That would be cool!"

The thought of having a different trainer brought some comfort, but she would still be just a servant. The thought of spending the rest of her life like that made her fear the future. Suddenly, the trainer grew silent and she could hear the sound of flapping wings. Her gaze first went to a terrified human and then, following his stare, to the sky.

The black shape blocked out the moon's shine and soon landed before the pair in all of its terrible glory. He screamed, frightened. But she was not about to give up. Whatever the creature wanted, it was not going to get it without a fight. And so, she used the very attack her trainer commanded her to use, releasing a beam of pure psychic energy, which seemed to change colour every other second. But the devil merely raised his arm, effortlessly blocking her attack. Not good.

This one had been a good pick, indeed. Quite powerful, especially considering she was a normal creature. And that essence... yes, it was a female. And what was that he could feel? Not fear, but sorrow? Did she not like serving the human, perhaps? How convenient. He concentrated his psychic powers and spoke towards her, telepathically.

"There is no need for aggression," she was visibly startled, but did not stop attacking, "I only came here to make you an offer. My name is Thanos."

The wave first weakened, then disappeared completely. She replied the same way in the language of all the creatures, which he understood:

"*What are you talking about?*"

"I mean, my dear, that I could release you from the shackles placed upon your limbs by this pitiful human. I could give you a form of freedom, in a quest for revenge against their pathetic kind. And an increase in your already considerably powerful abilities. All you need to do, is swear your allegiance to me. After my quest is complete, you may roam the land as you see fit."

Such an offer could have only been heard in a dream, she at first thought. But it was no mere vision, it was reality.

"*Yes, I agree! I swear my allegiance to you, until you see fit to release me!*"

"Well, that was easier than I thought it would be. Now, come to me. Receive your new power!"

She took a few steps forward and the trainer took out one of his pokeballs and shouted:

"We're getting out of here! Gardevoir come ba-," the ball suddenly flew from his hand and into Thanos' claws, "hey!"

"Silence, human," the boy froze in fear as the devil crushed the orb in his palm, "now, if you value your life, you will start running," the trainer needed no further motivation. The dark one looked straight into her red eyes with his golden ones, "are you ready?"

"Gardevoir!"

"Excellent. This may hurt," a bolt of dark energy suddenly struck her chest and started changing her. She fell to her knees, the agony too great to simply bare. Her gaze drifted to her green arms, which were slowly changing colour to a dark purple. All of the white on her 'skirt' and the skin on her face and chest turned dark green, while the red growth and her eyes became dark blue. She was no longer a simple pokemon, but something much, much darker. Some would say a shadow of her former self.

But she loved it. The feeling of having so much power. Enough to crush the head of any... human. And she said, to herself:

"Amazing! Wait, I can-?!"

"Yes, you can talk like one of them now. Slight adjustments to your physique were all, that was needed. This way, you can intimidate them far more effectively. Now, your psychic powers have been increased exponentially, but you have also earned powers from every other element. Try it."

She looked at the very rock she had been forced to train on. In moments, it was consumed by a massive flame and started melting, but was suddenly turned into a hunk of ice.

"This is something else!"

"Indeed, my dear. You shall be my second in command. Of course, for that, you would need a name. And whatever could that be?"

She thought for a moment, looking through languages she knew. And she settled on a single word.

"Ombra, 'shadow'."

"A wonderful choice. Come then, Ombra. We have much to do!"

"Of course, master. But, erm... how will we travel?"

"There are two basic options. Either you use your own abilities, or, considering my size, I carry you. I'm fine with either, really."

"Then... could I be carried? At least for now, until I get used to my powers."

"Very well, get on. We have a long journey ahead of us."

She hopped onto his back and held him around the neck, while he positioned two of his legs to form something platform-like. And, with a single flap of his wings, they rose into the sky. After a few minutes of rising, he then flew forwards, letting her loosen the grip and sit down on the 'platform'.

"And what is our mission, master?"

"First, we must find certain beasts. And make sure they cause no trouble."

She smiled as he flew above lands both known and alien. The messenger of doom was no longer alone.


End file.
